More kidney-related disease than ever?

[zoneout]

Dr. Kris,

In your esteemed view, are we not seeing more kidney-related disease than ever before in cats at levels that are quite alarming, especially given that many of these chronic ailments are appearing in cats who should still be in the prime of life 7-12 years old?   

If you believe this to be true based on yours and your colleagues caseload then what factors are the main contributors to this state-of-affairs.  And what can be done in the area of prevention to help these pets and owners avoid this horrible affliction.

Thank you for your time and courtesy.

 

[dr kris]

Hi Zoneout!

Yes, we see a lot of kidney related disease. I probably see 1 to 3 cases of it per day. Im usually discussing it more than that. Multilply that with the 5 other vets that i work with, and we are quickly getting into some large numbers. And that is just for one vet clinic.

A couple of ways to view it:

1) We are much better at detecting it so we see more of it. Actually, our detection methods need to get better, but education in the veterinary industry with respect to CKD is much better than where it used to be. I can tell you that I personally find these issues earlier as a direct result of modern grading systems and diagnostics. But it needs to improve still.

2) CKD is an umbrella term that catches about a dozen underlying potential issues. Some are more prevalent that others. So CKD for one cat can have a different underlying cause for another. Studies that examine why these things happen are really really few and far in between. It will probably mean that factors that cause it for some cats might be different in others.

There is hope.

There is some interesting research suggesting that cats with tubulointerstitial nephritis (one major underlying cause of CKD), can reach very old ages - actually outlive cats who might have other problems. You can safely bet this is where my current research and treatment plans will be based on!

k